1 / 10

Evolution of Urbanization and Social Classes in Industrialization Era

Explore the impact of rapid urbanization, social class distinctions, and working class struggles during the industrial revolution, leading to reforms and improvements over time. Witness the evolution of cities, societies, and labor conditions.

woodall
Download Presentation

Evolution of Urbanization and Social Classes in Industrialization Era

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. 1) Urbanization = growth of cities (as workers migrate to cities to find work) Problems: miserable living conditions for the working class (middle & upper classes live outside cities in larger suburban estates):

  2. Problems of rapid urbanization: • No city planning to manage growth = chaotic & unorganized development (growth is too much, too fast… outpaces needed public services) • No sanitation codes = dirty & polluted (sewage & trash disposed of in unpaved streets & rivers; coal soot covers buildings) • No building codes = poor housing (poorly built, overcrowded slums… fire hazard!) • Poor sanitation + overcrowding = epidemics & disease, shortened lifespans (no public health services) • Inadequate (or absent) police & fire services • No public education • No parks, libraries

  3. 2) Urban problems are SLOWLY fixed over the next two centuries, as [MUNICIPAL] governments collect taxes from individual income, property, and business profits to eventually respond with investments in public services: • → paved streets • → sewers • → parks • → modern municipal services (fire, police, trash collection, building code inspection & enforcement)

  4. 3) Industrialization fosters growing CLASS DISTINCTIONS: I. UPPER CLASS: • Traditional upper class: landowners and aristocrats (inherited wealth, based on land ownership and family legacy) • Newindustrial upper class: factory owners & entrepreneurs, merchants, bankers (begin to rival, then join upper classes economically; initially resented by the traditional upper class!)

  5. 3) Industrialization fosters growing CLASS DISTINCTIONS: II. A new & emerging MIDDLE CLASS: • Upper Middle: government employees, doctors, lawyers, managers, accountants, business professionals, wealthy farmers • Lower Middle: skilled workers, tradesmen, mechanics, overseers (lower-level managers)

  6. 3) Industrialization fosters growing CLASS DISTINCTIONS: III. WORKING CLASS (aka: lower class): Less skilled, less educated laborers Which do YOU come from?

  7. 4) CLASS TENSIONS RISE • Working class increasingly reacts to immense differences in wealth, income, living & working conditions: • 1. RIOTS, DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY (Luddites*) • 2. PROTESTS & DEMONSTRATIONS • 3. ORGANIZATION → FORMATION OF LABOR UNIONS • 4. EMIGRATE! • *The original “rage • against the machine”: • Property to be protected • with force... while • workers' lives were • considered expendable.

  8. 5) GOVERNMENT REACTIONS to working class unrest: • Arrest, sometimes shoot demonstrators (or allow companies to hire their own security force to do so) • Protect property, and the ECONOMY, from “the mob” • Reasoning: uphold “law & order” and protect property, using violence against workers (if necessary… and sometimes when not necessary!) • LAISSEZ-FAIRE policies (for owners to profit, not for workers to organize) will continue well into the 20th century; unions are eventually tolerated, and later given legal recognition (not until 1935 in the U.S.) • Slow, creeping government reform occurs only when forced to after conditions become too terrible to ignore, and workers gain sympathy from a wider public audience • (early examples: Factory Act (1833), Mines Act (1842))

  9. 6) NEGATIVES OF EARLY INDUSTRIALIZATION… widespread suffering: • - dangerous & unhealthy working conditions • (factories & coal mines were dirty, poorly lit, and lacking in safety… workers were often injured by machines & industrial accidents, with no compensation) • - polluted air & water (at work and in the environment) • - child labor (no nationwide public education until 1920's) • - low wages (esp. for children & women) • - long hours (14 hours a day, 6 days a week) • - dull, repetitive work (machine pace, round the clock) • - DE-HUMANIZING CONDITIONS (owners regard workers • as disposable, easily replaced) • - wealth & income disparity: large income gap between • working class and middle & upper classes, leads to… • - class tensions (working class v. middle & upper classes), • sometimes resulting in violence & social instability

  10. 7) POSITIVES OF INDUSTRIALIZATION • + Job creation & growth in employment opportunities • + Gradually rising wages (esp. compared to farming) • + More affordable consumer goods • + Technological progress, more comforts & conveniences • + Growing national wealth (but very unevenly distributed!) • + A rising standard of living (over the long-term) for most • people (today’s middle class routinely enjoys what • previous generations would consider to be luxuries) • + More education (due to need for skilled workers) • + Growth of the middle class (wealth no longer dependent • on land ownership) • + Eventually (long term), improved working & living • conditions (unions, labor laws) • + Longer life spans (more food, better medicine & health)

More Related